Project proposal

1. The title

Water, health and education for women and children of Thar

2. Location

6 villages of Osian block in the Thar Desert

3. Duration

One year (October 2013 to September 2014)

4. Target population

Rural community specially women and children living in the project villages

5. Background

The Thar Desert of India, spread across the state of Rajasthan mainly, is one of the most underdeveloped regions in the world. The region is chronically hit by persistent droughts and communities in the rural parts of Thar are forced to live with poverty, illiteracy and poor health. Annual Rainfall is limited from less than 100mm in west to about 200 mm in some parts of the desert. Lack of water and food commodities due to insufficient rains have caused deep rooted poverty in the region. Amidst these adversities and poverty, education and health have always been on the back foot within the development scenario in the region.

The harsh climate in a relentless desert environment, acute shortage of water, poor sanitation, malnutrition and myriad inflectional diseases has lead to a poor health status of the inhabitant of Thar villages. The biggest impact of lack of water and nutrient foods could be seen on the female population and children of the region. Women are often malnourished, usually going through several pregnancies, coupled with poor nutrition and hard physical work. It is estimated that nearly half of the women of the region do not have any access to primary healthcare facilities and a high percentage of birth deliveries are not institutional and are assisted by untrained midwives or relatives.

Making community aware about improved practices and adopting activities like conservation of rain water at household and in farm, sending girl child to school and regular checkup of women and children can improve the living status of the community. The initiative will impact in bringing behavioral changes of community and increasing access to better education, water resources, and improve livelihood.Project will strive to focus on above issues of Thar by bridging the gapin a holistic wayto address the problem of water, illiteracy and poor health among rural folk.

6. Objectives

  • To enhance water security through rain water harvesting at household and farms.
  • Improve the status of health of the vulnerable sections of the society, especially covering the groups of women and children
  • Improve education of children, and
  • Empower rural community to become self-reliant and confidant with a particular focus on women through SHGs.

7. Proposed activities

Construction of water storage tanks (taankas)

A taanka is an underground tank for harvesting rainwater as well as storing water. It is a traditional method of water storage in dry areas. It taps and stores rain water from a local catchment- natural or artificial. When the stored water is exhausted, the taanka is used to store water transported from outside on cattle carts/ tractors. Thus taanka is an important element of water security in arid regions of Thar. Most importantly, it provides great relief to the women and girls from everyday-water-fetching-drudgery. Two taanka Maintenance training will be given to beneficiaries and mason.

Under the project, GRAVIS intends to build 35taankas in the six villages. These will benefit 35 poor households comprising of nearly 175 people.

Organization of ANC, immunization and medical camps

Medical camps will be organized to diagnose & give immediate relief to patients against common seasonal diseases in remote areas where other health services do not exist. Immunization of children, ANC of pregnant women, examination and treatment of patients especially old age people and referral will be part of camps.

It is proposed to organize 12 medical camps under the project benefiting nearly 600 people.

Construction of Khadin:

A bund is constructed on the border of the field so that water does not flow out. Rainwater is retained in the field. The soil then retains moisture for a longer time. The water flowing in brings with it organic matter, minerals and new soil. These are retained in the field and act as manure. Because of more moisture, even two crops can grow in a year in one field. Overall, khadin raises agricultural productivity by 2 to 2.5 times. Under the project, GRAVIS intends to build 10 Khadin. These will benefit 10 poor households.

Running of primary schools for children:

GRAVIS will continue school programmes and will run primary schools in Minno ki Dhani and Dabri villages.

Education Tour:

It is considered to be an easy learning tool for capacity building, especially for children as it helps in understanding things in a practical way. As a result the children gains knowledge on historical, cultural, social, and religious contexts so that a holistic approach of development can be done. Also they get an exposure of places outside their village. Such kind of exposures not only helps the children to understand things going on outside their village but also subjects related to their daily life and upbringing.

Women Empowerment:

Women are increasingly contributing to the income of the households be it through working in NREGA, SHG activities or participating as entrepreneurs and workers in other economic activities. Micro finance is a major intervention to empower women. Two Vocational trainings will be organized depending upon the local need, local resource market accessibility and traditional skills of women. The vocation trainings will help them to provide expertise to start-up income generation activities/ventures. GRAVIS will focus on strengthening of already formed SHGs in project villages. Selected women from all groups will also go for an exposure visit.

8. Sustainability and Replication

The activities of the project focus on water, health and education which are the basic needs of the region. Therefore, the community will actively participate in the project. All the interventions of the project are locally suitable, simple and cost effective. With proper care and maintenance, the structures and initiatives can be sustained as functional over the long run.

9. Project budget (all figures in Indian Rupees) 1 USD = 62 INR

Head / Unit / Unit Cost / Budget
1 / Salary of Project Coordinator - Part time (1) / 12 / 5000 / 60000
2 / Salary Field Worker (2) / 24 / 7000 / 168000
3 / Travel / 12 / 5000 / 60000
4 / Construction of taanka / 35 / 20000 / 700000
5 / ANC, Immunization and Medical camps / 12 / 6000 / 72000
6 / Taanka Maintenance Training / 2 / 10000 / 20000
7 / Construction of earthen bund (Khadin) / 10 / 30000 / 300000
8 / Exposure visit of women SHGs / 1 / 15000 / 15000
9 / Vocational trainings of SHGs / 2 / 10000 / 20000
10 / Support to schools (2) / 12 / 6000 / 72000
11 / Educational tour of children / 1 / 15000 / 15000
12 / GRAVIS administration / 12 / 4000 / 48000
TOTAL / 1550000

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